Zambia to Revise Budget Amid Drought Threat to Food Production

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President Hakainde Hichilema announced that Zambia will make adjustments to its national budget to address food security concerns arising from a dry spell affecting over half of the country’s 10 provinces.

Speaking at a meeting with church leaders in the capital city, Lusaka, President Hichilema stated that Zambia’s Food Reserve Agency is ready to purchase all domestically produced crops to ensure an adequate food supply for citizens. He highlighted that the ongoing lack of rainfall also poses a risk of reducing output at hydropower plants in the southern region of the country.

The recent dry spell, which commenced approximately three weeks ago, represents another challenge for Zambia, which has faced economic difficulties, including loan defaults amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The dry spell follows a period of heavy rain earlier in the year that exacerbated Zambia’s worst cholera outbreak, resulting in 665 deaths and nearly 19,000 infections since October.

President Hichilema emphasized the government’s commitment to realigning the budget to prioritize addressing food insecurity. He stressed the need to allocate additional resources to ensure that citizens have access to food regardless of the prevailing circumstances.

The six provinces affected by the dry spell are major crop-producing regions, prompting the government to explore options such as introducing irrigation to bolster food production. Agriculture Minister Reuben Phiri recently announced that Zambia will halt the export of maize, the country’s staple crop, until the government evaluates the available stock following the upcoming harvest.